UNIVERSITY
Univ.-Prof. Dr.
Oliver Vitouch
Contact
Telephone: +43 463 2700 9201
E-mail: rektor [at] aau [dot] at
Room: Z. 2.24
Office
Lisa-Maria Schmiedler
Telephone: +43 463 2700 9241
E-mail: lisa-maria [dot] schmiedler [at] aau [dot] at
Room: Z.2.23
Tasks and responsibilities
In accordance with section 23 (1) of the Universities Act 2002 the Rector’s responsibilities include, among others:
- to be chair and spokesperson of the Rectorate;
- to suggest proposals for the nomination of Vice-Rectors;
- to be head of the commission of the university;
- to negotiate and conclude performance agreements and configuration agreements with the Federal Minister, and to promptly provide the University Council with information about the results;
- to act as the most senior manager for all university personnel;
- to make selections from the list of candidates for university professors proposed by the appointments committees;
- to lead contract negotiations;
- to conclude employment and works contracts;
- to grant authorities, in accordance with section 28 (1) of the Universities Act 2002.
Please refer to the rules of procedure (as amended) for the comprehensive list.
Responsibilities of the Rectorate, in accordance with the rules of procedure.
The Rector is furthermore responsible for:
- Deans’ Office / Continuing Education Office
- Financial Services including the Bursar’s Office, Accounting, Cost Controlling, and Procurement
- Internal Audit Office
- Legal Services Office
- Office of the Rectorate
- Public Relations and Communication
- The University Cultural Centre (UNIKUM)
Personal Data
Oliver Vitouch, born in 1971, studied Psychology at the University of Vienna, where he gained his doctorate in 1999 and earned his post-doctoral qualification to lecture in Psychology in 2001. From 2000 until 2002 he worked as a research scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin. In 2002 he took up a position as associate professor at the University of Vienna’s Department of Psychology. Amongst other places, he has taught at the Freie Universität Berlin and at the University of St. Gallen. In March 2003, Oliver Vitouch accepted a professorship at the AAU, where he runs the Cognitive Psychology Unit.
From 2008 until 2010 he served as the president of the Austrian Psychological Society. In January 2006 he was elected chairman of the AAU Senate, an office he held until May 10th, 2012 (Senates I to IV in accordance with the Austrian Universities Act 2002). Vitouch served as vice-rector for teaching, learning, and international relations from May 11th, 2012 until he took office as rector on October 29th, 2012.
From January 2015 to May 2016, Oliver Vitouch was president of the Alps-Adriatic Rectors’ Conference (AARC), founded 1979 in Graz, with 40 member universities from Austria, Southern Germany, Hungary, Northern Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Albania. In May 2015, he has been re-elected by the AAU Senate and the Board of Trustees (pursuant to Art. 23b of the Austrian Universities Act) as rector for the term of office 2016-2020.
Oliver Vitouch has alternately served as Vice-President and President of “Universities Austria” since January 2016 (President from June 2016 to December 2017; Acting President in the second half of 2019). As President, he was significantly involved into the enactment of Austria’s new system of university funding (Art. 141 to 141c and 71a to 71d of the Austrian Universities Act).
